Inflammation within the body may occur in response to cigarette smoking or eating large amounts of saturated fat and trans fat. In overweight or obese people, excess fat cells can float through the bloodstream and cause inflammation. Although inflammation can help the body it can also hurt.
Certain dietary fats cause more of an inflammation response than others. Trans fat and the saturated fat in animal foods stimulate inflammation. To a smaller extent, polyunsaturated fat in foods such as safflower oil, sunflower oil and corn oil trigger inflammation, as well. Again, this is where olive oil helps. Olive oil’s phytonutrients— in this case phenolic compounds called squalane, beta-sitosterol, and tryosol—don’t cause the inflammation that other fats do.
What is Inflammation?
Inflammation is the immune system’s first line of defense against injury and infection. When an injury occurs, such as a simple cut on the finger, a set of events take place within your body that forms a blood clot, fights infection, and begins the healing process. Inflammation is painful because blood vessels dilate upstream of the injury to bring more blood and nutrients to the injured area, but they constrict at the injury site. These actions result in fluids from the bloodstream pooling in tissue around the injury, which causes swelling and pressure that stimulate nerves and cause pain.
In some individuals the immune system gets confused and begins to view some of the body’s own healthy cells as “foreign invaders.” It therefore directs an immune response—complete with inflammation—at healthy tissues, harming or even destroying them. This misdirected attack results in what’s called an autoimmune disorder (“auto) meaning self). Rheumatoid arthritis and certain types of thyroid disease an autoimmune disorders. Asthma, too, is the result of inflammation gone awry.
When inflammation continues unabated for long periods of time, damage can occur in organs, such as the colon, or in the blood vessels. Indeed, chronic inflammation within the body is looking more and more like a serious contributor to cardiovascular (heart and blood vessel) disease. Inflammation may damage the inner lining of the blood vessels, which encourages plaque deposits to form. Inflammation may also cause plaque in arteries to break off and travel downstream, where it can become lodged and stop blood flow to a crucial artery that provides oxygen to important body parts, such as your heart or brain. When this happens, a heart attack or stroke (respectively) can occur.
Chronic inflammation within the body can wreak havoc on other body parts besides arteries. A team led by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Medical Institution found that chronic inflammation of the colon might increase the risk of colon cancer. A ten-year study of more than 20,000 patients suggested a link between chronic inflammation and this disease, although a direct cause-and-effect relationship has not yet been established. These preliminary findings were discussed in the February 2004 edition of the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Scientists have discovered that inflammation can be reduced with low daily doses of aspirin or other nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), which in turn appear to reduce the risk of diseases caused by inflammation. Fortunately, not only does olive oil not prompt the kind of inflammation other types of fat can, it actually has some ability to reduce inflammation, thanks to those helpful phytochemicals (squalane, beta-situsterol, and tyrosol). So consuming olive oil on a regular basis may help decrease the risk of conditions linked to inflammation.
Yet another condition that appears to be linked to inflammation is type 2 diabetes, the most common form of diabetes that affects an estimate 20 million Americans. Having excess body fat seems to increase inflammation. As inflammation increases, so does insulin resistance. As insulin resistance increases, blood glucose levels rise and the risk of type 2 diabetes skyrockets.
An article published by Philadelphia researchers in the September 2005 issue of Nature identified a compound in olive oil called olecanthal that has anti-inflammatory action. Their studies revealed that this compound can act like ibuprofen and other anti-inflammatory medications.
Future research will probably tell us more about olive oil’s function in battling oxidation, inflammation, and all the multiple diseases and health conditions associated with them. In Spain, Italy and Greece, where olive oil is used in most households, cancer incidence is much lower than in norther Europe and the United States, where olive oil use isn’t as widespread.
A study published in the March 2005 issue of the Annals of Oncology showed that Oleic acid, the principal monounsaturated fat in olive oil, dramatically decreased the growth of aggressive forms of breast tumors in test tubes. When oleic acid was combined with the commonly used breast cancer drug Herceptin, the effectiveness of the drug was vastly improved. In addition, the researchers reported an inverse relationship between the disease and oleic acid: The more oleic acid a woman ate, the lower her risk of breast cancer.
For more information: The Healing Power of Garlic, Vinegar & Olive Oil by Gayle Alleman, M.S.,R.D. is recommended reading.
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